Here's what our lineup could look like next year assuming we keep marion and sign Grant Hill to the minimum:
PG- Steve Nash/Leandro Barbosa
SG- Raja Bell/Grant Hill
SF- Shawn Marion/James Jones/Alando Tucker
PF- Amare Stoudemire/Boris Diaw
C-Kurt Thomas
Now i'm actually happy with picking Alando Tucker, I think with the help of Nash he can easily average 15-20 minutes a game and average 8-10 points. This is a great pick for us, he's athletic he's a good defensive player and he has a mid to long range jumper.
Let me know how everybody feels about this pick, and share any moves you think might happen in this offseason.
Phoenix has thrown away players like Deng, Rondo, Fernandez, Rodriguez for cash...only to spend that cash on guys like Banks, Piatkowski ect
What were we working out lottery players for? To get my hopes up?
I hope we get Garnett for Stoudemire...Its our best chance to win a ring.
When Nash retires were going to be ordinary and Amare (which is all were gonna have) wont be enough to stay competitive so we might as well throw everything at the next 2-3 seasons.
Which wouldnt have been necessary if we drafted players.
We should have picked Koponen or McRoberts by the way. The pick suggests Marion may still be moved.
Last edited by Run&Gun=Fun : 06-29-2007 at 12:35 AM.
Phoenix has thrown away players like Deng, Rondo, Fernandez, Rodriguez for cash...only to spend that cash on guys like Banks, Piatkowski ect
What were we working out lottery players for? To get my hopes up?
I hope we get Garnett for Stoudemire...Its our best chance to win a ring.
When Nash retires were going to be ordinary and Amare (which is all were gonna have) wont be enough to stay competitive so we might as well throw everything at the next 2-3 seasons.
Which wouldnt have been necessary if we drafted players.
We should have picked Koponen or McRoberts by the way. The pick suggests Marion may still be moved.
The best chance to win a ring is to keep a roster intact for more than one season. Seriously. It seems year after year whenever the Suns don't make it people say "oh this formula didn't produce automatic championship so let's revamp everything." That's not how things work. Moves do need to be made, but more along the lines of getting rid of Banks/KT/Diaw to get a center or someone half decent to start with Amare.
I love the players the Suns picked, obviously confused about why they got rid of one pick, but chances are that D'Antoni will not give any minutes to any rookie that comes in. He wasn't even willing to play Rose, what makes anyone think he'll play Tucker? He'll just stick with a 7 man rotation and tire everyone out by the time the late rounds in the playoffs come around. I distrust D'Antoni moreso than any individual player the Suns have on the roster.
I dont think the roster has been changed all that much since JJ was traded. This group has been given their chance and for whatever reason has failed. Personally i dont think the players want to do it all again with the same group, they've expended alot and essentially have nothing to show for it.I can only imagine, but think it would be hard to play another 82 games together only to get back in a position they've been 3 times before.
In my oppinion there's enough self doubt and dissension amongst this group to render them inneffective in another post season.
There is obvious chemistry issues between Amare and Marion and they each seem to have difficulties accepting the media glorification of Nash.
If KG comes in he will single handedly motivate the whole roster for another push, hes an infectious character and a leader...I dont think Amare is a leader, in fact i get the impression not many of his teammates like him.
Wheter its Amare or Marion i would do it. I actually think a team with Garnett Marion works better than a Garnett/Stoudemire particularly when Nash is the point guard.
DJ Strawberry was a nice pick...He should make the roster.
Last edited by Run&Gun=Fun : 06-29-2007 at 04:36 AM.
First year without JJ was last season. They lost JJ, Q, and Jim Jackson who was pretty serviceable. In that first year without JJ they also didn't play with Amare because of injury. Essentially last year was the first year that the Suns were together as a team of Nash/Bell/Marion/Amare/Diaw/etc. So no they really haven't had three years together. This group has had one year together and they had many circumstances that certainly may have held them back, but they showed that they do have the ability to change up style in the playoffs and stick around with the Spurs and eventually get over the hump.
he's a good defensive player and he has a mid to long range jumper.
Spoken as someone who has obviously not seen Tucker play. He's an alright defender, hard nosed with tons of athleticism, but he defended mostly in the post in college and looked mediocre at best matched up with quick wing players. He's also an absolutely HORRIBLE shooter from all ranges, he makes Marion look like Kerr. His career high FT percentage, as a 5-year senior, was 68%. Read that number one more time; 68% on FREE THROWS was his career high. His jumper is going to have to develop more in the next 6 months than it had in the previous 10+ years of his basketball career if he's going to carve out a role with us
I'm still hoping the Suns managed to pull off some Banks/29/ATL1st for #6 level steal, with Tucker headed back to Wisconsin and Yi headed here. Probably not, nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking.
Rab; Jones was in that Portland deal? Do you have a link? I never saw the official report of what was involved, I was still hoping we managed to get one of POR's 2nds with that cash, considering PHI sold them the #30 and also got #42 Byars back (who would have been a million times better than Tucker for us at #29 BTW). I love pretty much everyone Portland got with their seconds, I'd take any of them in a heartbeat (and give up Tucker for them just as quickly).
If those "future considerations" are McRoberts (#37), Taureen Green (#52) or even Demitris Nichols (#53), I'll be happy with the deal to some degree. Maybe Portland wants to see where they feel they need the most help after summer leagues (based on how young vets like sergio and webster do) and will give us the least needed one of those 3 after that. Sigh, I'm just so disappointed in the Suns draft so far I'm hoping there is some other trade in place
Suns... just stop that... James Jones does have some trade values and i don't think Suns are that poor that they need "cash"... they should include James Jones in their trade for KG and prehaps that will be the final piece to the Suns-Wolves trade puzzle...
Disagree wally, Jones isn't the type of guy people actually try to trade for; he's a mediocre role-player making 3 million dollars, you can find dozens of guys better than him for cheaper. If the Wolves had wanted him as the "final piece" I'm sure the Suns would have jumped all over it, this trade shows you just how little they valued him.
Adding him to this trade makes it more sensible for the Suns, the savings end up being pretty significant. More than 3.5 mil in salary saved between the pick and JJ, after the tax and 3 mil in raw cash it's a 10 million dollar trade. Hopefully this is an indication the Suns have another deal lined up after the July 1st salary switch (and resulting moratorium). If we're expecting Tucker to fill those SF minutes, I think we're in trouble.
I met Tucker at the Wisconsin Basketball camp and he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He's got a great work ethic and I think you made a good pick. He's a little different than everybody else on your team in that he's not a very good shooter, but diversity is always welcome and usually works.
Alando Tucker
